In the summer of 2006, Karina was an intern at the X PRIZE Foundation where she met Darrell Cain, the Chapter President of MIT SEDS. Karina talked with Darrell about creating a club at MIT for students interested in space entrepreneurship, and he insisted she meet Stevie Steiner, who was also [involved with SEDS and President of the MIT Zero G club]. Stevie and Karina realized their common interests and quickly became friends. In September, they co-founded the MIT Astropreneurs Club with the goal of bringing people together across campus interested in space business. Within the first month, MIT Astropreneurs had over 50 members.
Stevie and Karina are a great example of business and technology experts working together toward a common goal. Their passion for space is what motivates them to inspire entrepreneurs to invest time and resources into the space industry by building sound, quality businesses.
Karina Drees
Karina Drees is the COO/CFO of TRX Systems, a startup company developing the most reliable and comprehensive indoor tracking system. Prior to TRX, she ran finance and operations for a number of startup companies in the Arizona region. She successfully co-founded a network vulnerability assessment company, which is still operating today. Karina holds a BS in Finance from Arizona State University and an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management. At MIT, she chaired the MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition, which is the world’s leading business plan competition, from 2006 to 2007. Through the $100K, Karina helped aspiring entrepreneurs through the process of forming teams, perfecting business ideas, writing winning business plans and gaining exposure to the Boston investment community.
Karina attended the International Space University Summer Session Program in Beijing, China in 2007. At ISU, she focused her individual project on space policy and her team project on space traffic management. Now a resident of Washington D.C., Karina stays connected with the space community through volunteer efforts, and is the Chair of the 2008 National Space Society ISDC Space Investment Symposium.
Stephen (Stevie) Steiner
Stephen (Stevie) Steiner is a PhD student in Aeronautics and Astronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology working in the Technology Laboratory for Advanced Materials and Structures under the direction of Professor Brian Wardle. He holds a Master’s degree in Materials Science and Engineering from MIT, where he studied fundamentals of carbon nanotubes and nanotube growth on carbon aerogels, and a B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he studied synthetic organosilicon chemistry.
Steiner’s research interests regard the synthesis and characterization of advanced nanomaterials, particularly high strength-to-weight ratio and high surface area-to-weight ratio materials. Steiner’s current research focuses on the elucidation of the physical mechanisms which underlie carbon nanotube growth, discovery of new nanotube catalysts, and growth of aligned nanotubes on carbon substrates. Steiner also has a long history investigating aerogel materials, having built a supercritical reactor in his basement at age 17 and having flown numerous experiments making gels and aerogels in zero-gravity aboard NASA’s KC-135A as a college student. He has been featured in numerous documentaries for his work on advanced materials on the National Geographic Channel, PBS NOVA, and the BBC. Steiner is also the team lead for a NASA Centennial Challenges Strong Tether Competition team, which in 2007 demonstrated the first two-gram, two-meter nanotube-only tether ever produced. Steiner works as one of eight FAA-certified flight directors for the Zero Gravity Corporation, where he was hand-selected to fly with Stephen Hawking on his groundbreaking zero-gravity flight in April 2007. He also engages in due diligence consulting for a Boston-based venture capital firm.
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